Jerusalem Court for Issues of Bnei Noah

From The Sanhedrin - en

The purpose of this court is to rule on the legal aspects of issues concerning Bnei Noah: biblical and internationally recognized principles as a basis for legal reciprocity in international law. Chief Justice: Rabbi Yoel Schwartz

Rabbi Yoel Schwartz, received the blessing of leading hareidi-religious Rabbi Mordechai Eliyahu to engage in the project of creating a court and infrastructure for B'nai Noah. Rabbi Schwartz is the Deputy Chancellor, Segan Av Beis din, of the nascent Sanhedrin. He is also the Chief Justice, Av Beit Din, of this court, the Special Court for Matters Concerning Bnei Noah, known in Hebrew as Beit Din L'inyanei Bnei Noach, or BDBN.

This court has been set up to serve the needs of B'nei Noach worldwide. Judaism does not view itself as a universal religion, instead it sees itself as a national faith. This is understood within the context of the Jewish teaching that there are seventy nations or groups of people in the world. Each group of people must develop its own form of worship, unique to its own character. There is however a basic minimum common to all proper faiths, and this is the Noahide teachings. The Sanhedrin, through this court, is required to play a role in helping to clarify these most basic teachings, and each group of people in turn must set up its own religious court to expand, develop and adapt these laws to fit the needs of its community of believers.

At this point, the council will not serve as a adjudicating body, and will only serve to clarify halachic issues concerning the Bnai Noah. The court accepts requests for halachic rulings from B'nei Noach throughout the world.

Rabbi Steinsaltz called for an extensive project to be undertaken to help B'nai Noah in the nitty-gritty details of the observance of the religion. "A Shulhan Arukh [Jewish Law Code] for B'nai Noah must be written so that the individual can have guidance as to what to do," Steinsaltz said, referring to the compendium of practical Jewish law written by Rabbi Yosef Karo of Tzfat in the 1560's that is still used today.

Leading Justices

Rabbi Yoel Shwartz An outstanding Torah scholar and prolific writer has published over 200 seforim. He is a product of the great Yeshivot Poneviz and Mir and merited to study with the famous Rosh Yeshivah of Yeshivat Mir, Rabbi Chaim Shmuelevitch zt"l. As a past Mashgiach in Yeshivat Itri and currently a teacher in Yeshivat Dvar Yerushalayim, Rabbi Schwartz brings scores of years of experience in Torah education to the Nahal Haredi. Rabbi Schwartz has served as a spiritual advisor and educator since the inception of the program in 1999. He resides in Jerusalem with his wife, children and grandchildren.

Rabbi Yeshayahu HaKohen Hollander. Editor of a new publication of Talmud Bavli with Rashi embedded, previously he was a teacher in Yeshivat Hesder. He learned at Yeshiva Poneviz and Kollel Valozin, and merited to study under Rabbi Yitzhak Kolitz z"l, Chief Rabbi of Jerusalem. He holds a M.Sc. Theoretical Physics at Hebrew University and is a licensed Patent Attorney with twenty five years in industry. He was a general manager of Heled Educational Experiences and taught in Ricanati School for Economics at Tel Aviv University. Born in New York in 1937, came to Israel in 1948.

Rabbi Dov Avraham Ben-Shorr is the founder and dean of Beith David Yeshiva. He is an author, shohet, mohel, and sofer stam. Past articles by this author include "Removing the Labels, Finding Unity" and "A Tale of Two Camps". He was born in Cleveland, Ohio, lives with his family in the community of Ma´aleh (Pnei) Hever near Hebron.

Legal Rulings & Opinions

The Beith Din for Bnei Noah is at this time trying to review various Noahide groups and approaches, and provide its halachic opinion for Bnei Noah worldwide to consider. To this end, some of the rulings the court has provided include:

Issues on the agenda to be discussed at future sessions

The Jerusalem Court for Issues of Bnei Noah is working diligently and methodically to research complicated issues related to the seven laws of Noah, consulting all of the relevant Rabbinic authorities on the issue until now. The practical application of the Noachide laws is made difficult by the frequently wide divergence of opinion found within the various Rabbinic authorities concerning details of many Noachide laws. A simple example illustrates this, in the Jerusalem Talmud it recounts that there is no formal divorce according to Noachide law. (Jerusalem Talmud Kiddushin 1:1; see generally Malachim 2:16.), yet the rishonim understand this in three completely different ways: no divorce allowed, no divorce required, only the wife may divorce.

To date, the Beith Din for Bnei Noah has issued very few halachic rulings. The types of the issues being considered are:

Various forms of ceremony recommend by some Noahide groups

Which laws require capital punishment and which require a system of monetary fines

Regional or national differences in Noahide legal systems

Divorce

Abortion

Relationship to the Nascent Sanhedrin

The "Jerusalem Court for Issues of Bnei Noah" functions within the charter it has been given by the "Special Court for the Executive Oversight of the Sanhedrin", but it often functions independently. Views expressed by this subcourt, in general, has not be reviewed by the nascent Sanhedrin and as such they carry only the authority that a regular Jewish court of law would hold.

Besides its normal function, the "Jerusalem Court for Issues of Bnei Noah" is expected to develop "expert legal opinions" and "legal briefs" that may be used at a future date when a full sanhedrin may decide on these issues. Until that time, their views do not necessarily reflect the binding decision of a Sanhedrin, or even the views of all the members of the Sanhedrin Initiative.

See also

Councils

External Links

The Jerusalem Court for Issues of Bnei Noah hopes to compile a list of websites with our official endorsement in the near future. Other sites may receive a note of warning over specific content. It should not be assumed that the lack of mention of any particular site implies anything by the Beith Din. Anyone who would like to submit a site is most welcome.

References

This court in the news

The online broadcast - The presentation of Rabbi Schwartz' book "Light to the Nations" live on Turkish TV and radio. (1 December 2009)

"Believers" Accepting the Laws of Noah (November 2009) The nascent Sanhedrin’s court for Noahides held a ceremony in which four gentiles declared their acceptance to take upon themselves the seven laws of Noah to become “righteous gentiles”,

His name is: Jim Long Meet Jim Long, author of the book 'The Riddle of the Exodus' which shows proof that the story of the Exodus really happened as told in the Torah.(17 Tevet 5766, 17/01/06) (Arutz-7)

Sanhedrin to Hold Session With Worldwide Noahides Monday The Sanhedrin project will meet Monday in a session open to the general public. The session, attended by representatives of the B'nei Noah movement from around the globe, will deal with, "The Covenant of B'nei Noah and Their Pact." (8 Tevet 5766, 08/01/06) (Arutz-7)

Sanhedrin Moves to Establish Council For Noahides B'nai Noach, literally "Children of Noah," known as Noahides, are non-Jews who take upon themselves the Torah's obligations for non-Jews - consisting of seven laws passed on from Noah following the flood, as documented in Genesis(24 Elul 5765, 28/09/05) (Arutz-7)

Kabbalist Blesses Jones: Now´s the Time to Find Holy Lost Ark The famed archaeologist, the inspiration for the “Indiana Jones” movie series, has spent most of his life searching for the Ark of the Covenant. The ark was the resting place of the Ten Commandments, given to the Jewish people at Mount Sinai, and was hidden just before the destruction of the First Temple. (9 Iyar 5765, 18/05/05) (Arutz-7)